Fire and burglar alarm



June 12, 1934. c, R H 1,962,519

FIRE AND BURGLAR ALARM Filed May 16, 1933 Fig.1

Fig-2 l INVENTOR I H F CNOJZ/Z ATTORNEY Patented June 12, 1934 UNITEDSTATES FIRE AND BURGLAR ALARM Francis 0. North, Stockton, Calif.,assignor of one-third to Frank Erro and one-third to Teresa Morriones,Stockton, Calif.

Application May 16, 1933, Serial No. 671,341

Claims.

structed that as soon as even a small movement is given to the window ordoor a clear audible alarm will be given, which will not only notify anyperson in the vicinity but will also tend of itself to scare off theintruder. At the same time the alarm is easily disconnected by a personin the house so as not to interfere with the normal opening of thewindows and doors for ventilating and other purposes.

The device is also constructed so that the presence of excessive heat inthe immediate vicinity, as the result of an incipient fire, would causean alarm'to be given without any opening of a window or door beingnecessary.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensivedevice and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purposefor which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the followingspecification and claims.

In-the drawing similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views;

Fig. l is a fragmentary side elevation of the interior of .a sash windowstructure showing an alarm device applied to both sashes.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan of the device and its sash connection.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the main apparatus of the device takenon the line 3-3 of Fi 2.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the percussion unit detached.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the removable and combustible support for theunit detached.

Fig. 6 is a face view of the support tripping member, as mounted on anupper sash.

Fig. '7 is a sectional view of the same.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary face view of a door and its casing, the latterbeing partly broken out and showing a percussion unit mounted in thecasing and supported by the door.

Referring now more particularly to the char- Kcters of reference on thedrawing, the numeral 1 denotesa bracket plate'adapted to be mounted onthe outer edge of the inner panel 2 of a window casing. An arm 3projects from the plate and carries a vertical double ended stem 4 onits outer end so that the bracket may be inverted 0- and used right orleft hand. The stem detachably and non-turnably engages a socket 5 secured on one side of a cylindrical open-ended holder 6, the arm being ofsuch length and shape relative to the bracket so that the holder is dis-5 posed away from the wall 7 a distance sufficient to clear the plane ofthe base board 8.

A removable closure for the lower end of the holder is provided in theform of a disc 9 of readily combustible material-such as celluloid orimpreg- 7Q nated cardboard, which is provided with peripheral spacedlugs or extensions 10. These lugs engage grooved ears 11 on the bottomof the holder in such a manner as to normally support the disc byenabling the same to be withdrawn from such support We relativelysmallhorizontal movementin one direction.

Normally enclosed and freely slidable in the holder and supported by thedisc is the percussion unit. This comprises a holder body 13 forming 30an enclosure chamber 14, access to which is had by means ofcircumferential slots 15 through eitherof which a flat percussion cap 16may be inserted. Disposed in the chamber under the cap is a flat hammer17 mounted on a stem 18 slid- 35 ably projecting through the ebottom ofthe body and having a relatively large and heavy weight 19 on its lowerend.

This weight directly engages the disc -9 and through the medium of thehammer holds the cap firmly againstthe top of the chamber so that thereis a slight clearance between the top of the weight and the bottom ofthe body. It will thus be seen that if the support provided bythe'closure disc isremoved, either-by the pulling out or burn- 5 ing ofthe latter the percussion .unit will drop to the floor, with the weightfacing down. Upon the sudden contact of the weight with the floor thecap will of course explode by being suddenly compressed between thehammer and the top of the chamber. This will give a clearly audiblealarm sufficiently loud to attract the attention of anyone in the houseso that such person can investigate and determine what is wrong.

The necessary movement of the closure device is had with a relativelysmall opening movement of the window by the following means, theordinary sash window being used to illustrate the same. Secured to theinner faces of the sash frames 20 on the same side as the bracket are Iing door or window to the percussion buttons 21 each having a verticaldiametral slot 22 in its outer face. A leaf spring 23 is detachablyengaged with the slot and is of such shape relative to that of the slotthat a certain resistance is necessary to cause the spring to bedisengaged from said slot. A cord 24 is attached to one end of thespring, which projects outwardly from the slot at said end so that anexcessive pull on the cord will cause the spring to be pulled out fromthe slot for the purpose which will be seen later.

This cord extends to a connection with the disc 9 on the side of itsdirection of movement away from the holder and is lead through an eye 25on the bracket plate and through other guide eye pins 26 driven into thewindow casing in whatever positions may be necessary to cause a verticalmovement of the window and the trip button to impart a horizontalmovement to the cord at the disc without any binding.

A single percussion unit may thus be used in connection with bothsashes, the cords from the trip members on the sashes extending to acommon junction adjacent the guide eye 25, so that a movement of eithersash will cause the closure disc to be pulled clear of the holder.

The movement of the cord in a disc pulling direction is limited bysuitable means such as the engagement of a knot 27 or the like on thecord with the eye 25 after the disc has dropped clear of the holder.Thus with a continued opening movement of the Window a pressure will beplaced on the cord and spring 23 sufiicient to cause the latter to bepulled out of the button so that the cord will not be broken. Todisconnect the device so that the window may be freely opened it is onlynecessary to pull the spring 23 from the button by hand and let thespring and cord hang from the adjacent guide 26.

From the above description it will of course be obvious that the alarmdevices may be mounted in connection with casement windows and doors, itbeing only a matter of properly arranging the control cord from the tripmember on the swingunit on the window or door casing, which can easilybe done by suitably positioning the guide eyes 26. The percussion unitbeing mounted on the side of the casing is in a position to beimmediately afiected by the heat from the curtains if they should startto burn, and which is a common source of residence fires;

When locking up and leaving the house it is of course impossible toapply the alarm control -means to the door of final exit, since thismust be opened as the last act of leaving the house. I therefore providea diiferent arrangement for this door.- This comprises a vertical socket228 drilled upwardly from the lower edge of the upper rail of the doorcasing 29 as shown in Fig. 8, said socket being of sufficient size toreceive the percussion unit 13 therein so that the weight 19 willnormally rest on top of the door 30. The unit is inserted and held inplace by the finger as the door is finally closed until the top of thedoor with its closing movement engages and supports the weight.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I haveproduced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of theinvention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferredconstruction of the device, still in practice such deviations from suchdetail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit ofthe invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A burglar alarm for use with a movable opening-closure comprising avertical holder, means moimting the holder adjacent the closure at apredetermined distance above the floor, a releasable bottom for theholder, a percussion unit in the holder and supported by the bottom,said unit having means to cause an audible alarm to be given. uponcontact of the unit with the floor after dropping from the holder, andmeans between said closure and the bottom to release the latter bymovement of the closure.

2. A structure as in claim 1, in which said bottom is of readilycombustible material whereby excessive heat adjacent said bottom willcause the same to be consumed and the unit to drop and give anindependent of movement of the closure.

3. A burglar alarm for use with a movable opening-closure comprising avertical holder, means mounting the holder adjacent the closure at apredetermined distance above the floor, a bottom for said holder, meansmounting said bottom on the holder for horizontal sliding movement clearof the same, a percussion unit in the holder supported by the bottom andhaving means to cause an audible alarm to be given upon contact of theunit with the floor after dropping from the holder, and means betwee theclosure and the bottom to slide the latter clear of the holder bymovement of the closure.

4. A device as in claim 1, said last named means including a pull-cord,a member secured to the closure, and an element secured to the cord andengaging said member with a predetermined releasable pressure.

5. A fire alarm device comprising a cylindrical holder, means to supportsaid holder a predetermined distance above a floor, a readilycombustible bottom on said holder, and a percussion unit in the holderand supported by said bottom, said unit including means to cause anaudible alarm to be given when said unit strikes the floor afterdropping from the holder.

FRANCIS 0. NORTH.

